Following is a summary of the article Biofuels, for sustainable transportation, produced by the national renewable energy laboratory of the US in June 2000.
Biomass is defined as all the Earth’s vegetation. It is the oldest renewable source that humans use. Biomass has a wide range of resources like agricultural, industrial and living residues, all kinds of crops. It is a good energy source due to its renewablity, even distribution and the environmentally friendly exploiting technologies. The energy stored in biomass need to be transferred into a usable form before it can be using. Transportation fuels are made from biomass through biochemical or thermochemical processes.these biofuels include ethanol, methanol, biodiesel, biocrude, and methane.
Knowing that petroleum, which is the main fuel in America currently, has many disvantages, it is necessary for America to develop the technology produce and use biofuels. The consideration is nationally security. More than 53% of America’s petroleum is imported. That can be considered as a peril point for the nation. Biofuel, which can be produced by domestic biomass and renewed, can help to ease the dependence of oil import. The second consideration is economy. The development of biofuel can create new jobs and help to build a stronger energy market in America. Most importantly, biofuel is more environmental friendly than petroleum. Since biofuel is carbon neutral, there is no net emission of CO2, which is the main green house gas that causes global warming, through its using process. The planting of biomass can also help to maintain and even improve the quality of air and water. Moreover, the production of biofuel provides a way to dispose agricultural and forestry wastes.
Now, ethanol and biodiesel are commercially available. As people realize the benefits of biofuel, the demand will be increasing. The researches that focus on converting biomass to energy will lower the cost of biofuel, increase its resources and keep it sustainable. The National Biofuels Program lead by The U.S. Department of Energy works with industry to research, develop, demonstrate, and facilitate the commercialization of U.S. technologies, and aims to realize the large-scale use of biomass-based transportation fuels.
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The use of biofuels would be a clean yet efficient technology due to zero carbon emission and considered to be environmental friendly. It would definitely better than using petroleum as it produces vast amount of carbon-traced gases that will lead to drastic climatic changes.It is also considered to be one of the culprits for global warming. Engineers could further enhance and revise so that it could be carried out in full force in the long run.
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